Every Alien Movie - Ranked From Worst To Best

2. Alien

Alien 3 Sigourney Weaver
20th Century Fox

The one that started it all, the brilliance of Ridley Scott's original 1979 sci-fi-horror lies in its simplicity; a group of astronauts investigate a distress signal from a nearby planet, and unwittingly return to their ship with the titular creature. Chaos swiftly ensues.

This minimalism provides the film focus, something many of its meandering, broader sequels lacked. Scott keeps his film tight, bringing the scares thick and fast, keeping the tension ratcheted up.

Jerry Goldsmith’s score helps create a constant sense of unease, and the terrifying creature design is put to good use, Scott baiting you with the alien like he's dangling a fishing rod, before unleashing it in all its murderous glory whenever a kill scene is called for.

Granted, some of the effects (particularly in the Ripley vs Xenomorph final showdown, with the alien on the outside of the shuttle) haven't aged very well, but that's to be expected, and it's only momentarily distracting.

Alien is now 38 years of age, but it's still the gold-standard for space-set horror.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.